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USF Russia expert weighs in on Boston suspects' backgrounds

Police are on the hunt for 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. His brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed in a firefight with police early Friday.

Tampa, Florida -- 10 News spoke to an international affairs expert who weighed in on the two brothers allegedly involved in the Boston bombings, who are from a regionnear Chechnya.

Dr. Darrell Slider is a professor of government and international affairs at the University of South Florida. He is an expert about Russia and says there has been a link a long time between Chechnya and terrorist movements.

He went on to say there has been a radicalization of many young people in that region, which is mostly Muslim. It has spread since the late 1990's, as Russia took repressive measures.

"The problem is because the authorities have cracked down so hard on Islam, it's forced the movement underground and there it's become more radicalized," said Dr. Slider.

According to reports, the brothers spent at least a decade here in the U.S. Dr. Slider says he believes they still apparently took on extremist views over a period of time, feeling a strong connection to the area.

"Their influence really comes mostly second-hand. It comes from the Internet, it comes from videos -- from contact with religious leaders," said Dr. Slider.

According to the professor, it's not uncommon for young people in this area to have a sense of being victimized because of their religion. However, the he can't understand why the brothers would allegedly target the Boston Marathon and what the act of terror was supposed to accomplish.

"It doesn't make any sense. I haven't seen any kind of explanation of why that would set off someone," said Dr. Slider.